Chapter 84 Scavenging Ants

Lin Yuan's Adam's apple bobbed, and he unconsciously recited these two names that had flashed across the system panel.

Every syllable seemed to carry the cold texture of metal and the weight of ten thousand tons, slamming heavily against his heart.

His heart began to drum uncontrollably, beating wildly.

A god-tier mechanical civilization!

The site of the ultimate final battle!

Through the external sensors of the "ghost", he looked at the planet of death before him, composed entirely of war ruins and steel wreckage, and a sense of insignificance from the depths of his soul welled up.

Compared to the scene before him, the so-called "epic" interstellar wars he had seen in movies were as childish as a group of brats building castles on the beach.

"Damn..."

He swallowed, and an extremely inappropriate thought stubbornly emerged from his professional instincts as a scrapyard owner.

"If... if we could drag this entire planet back, our country's steel production would probably increase by ten thousand times, right?"

The underground Command Center of the "scavenger" project was currently plunged into an eerie silence.

Everyone seemed to have been hit by a freezing spell, staring fixedly at the screen filled with violent aesthetics and apocalyptic atmosphere, even forgetting to breathe.

"My god..."

A young researcher pushed up his glasses in a daze, the lenses reflecting the cold metallic luster from the screen.

"Is... is this the war of a mechanical civilization?"

"Look at those mecha wrecks! Their structure, that kind of anti-joint design, completely defies any mechanical principles we know! How on earth did they move?"

"And those warships! Look at that one! That wreck that looks like a flagship, its length is at least over ten kilometers! Is that a warship? That is clearly a moving steel city!"

Academician Wang watched, mesmerized, his eyes—rejuvenated by genetic agents—shining with a light a hundred times more fanatical than when he saw the "box of miracles".

For a scientist who had dedicated his entire life to mechanics and physics, this was not a graveyard.

This was a holy land forged from steel!

"Lin Yuan! Be careful!"

Chen Weiguo's powerful voice, like a tolling bell, timely awakened everyone from their shock.

He stared fixedly at the various parameters on the screen, his voice incredibly grave.

"You saw the system's warning! The environment here is extremely dangerous! The violent magnetic fields and chaotic electric arcs are a huge test for the 'ghost's' electronic systems!"

"Understood, Chief."

Lin Yuan instantly put away his outlandish thoughts, his expression becoming unprecedentedly serious.

He knew that although there were treasures everywhere here, there were also pitfalls everywhere.

Any inconspicuous negligence could cause him and this most expensive "junk vehicle" in history to remain here forever, becoming a part of this steel tombstone.

He piloted the matte black "ghost", like a silent feather in the night, carefully descending slowly toward the surface of this steel planet.

The closer he got, the stronger that invisible, violent magnetic field became.

On the surface of the "ghost", that layer of hexagonal "Adaptive Lattice Armor" began to automatically and high-frequency adjust its own energy frequency to resist this pervasive erosion.

The air around the fuselage showed slight, visible distortions.

【Warning: High-intensity magnetic field interference detected, "Spatial Lens Force Field" shows slight fluctuations, stealth effect reduced by 10%.】

The pale blue system prompt made Lin Yuan's heart tighten suddenly.

The stealth effect had actually decreased?

This was the first time since he upgraded to the "ghost" that he had encountered something capable of directly affecting a top-tier stealth force field.

"This place is even more sinister than I imagined."

He dared not be careless again, abandoning the idea of landing directly on those tall mecha wrecks, and chose a relatively flat "metal plain" composed of countless broken armor plates, preparing to land first and then make plans.

The "ghost" slowly descended, and the landing gear extended silently.

"Crackle—"

Just the moment the metal tip of the landing gear touched the ground.

An arm-thick, violent blue-purple electric arc suddenly shot out from the gap in the ground metal plates without warning, slamming fiercely onto the body of the "ghost"!

【Warning! The fuselage has suffered a high-intensity electric arc attack! "Kinetic Deflection Field" has been activated!】

【Energy reserves decreased by 0.1%.】

"Damn it!"

Lin Yuan was startled by this sudden attack.

This place, even the ground is electrified?

How is one supposed to play like this?

It's simply filled with traps everywhere!

However, before he could pull the ship up, something even more terrifying happened.

Just the moment that dazzling electric arc lit up, that fleeting energy fluctuation was like a drop of water falling into a hot frying pan!

The surrounding "ground", which had been dead for billions of years and composed of countless metal fragments, suddenly came alive!

It began... to squirm!

"Buzz buzz buzz buzz—"

A dense, scalp-numbing buzzing sound, like billions of bees vibrating their wings after being disturbed, resounded from all directions.

Seeing those originally motionless, palm-sized metal fragments, suddenly, as if attracted by an invisible super magnet, "stood up" from the ground one after another, converging into a... a gray-black, surging... "tide" of metal!

That tide was crazily sweeping toward the "ghost", which had just generated a slight energy fluctuation due to the electric arc attack!

Lin Yuan instantly zoomed the external monitor's lens to the closest.

His pupils suddenly shrank to needle points!

Those were not some damn metal fragments at all!

Those were... mechanical ants, only the size of a fingernail, composed entirely of countless smaller precision parts, with six ferocious articulated limbs and a pair of sharp mouthparts!

Thousands!

No!

Billions!

Countless mechanical ants formed a sea of death, a sea of nanorobots that could devour and decompose everything!

【Warning! High-density nanorobot cluster detected—"scavenger ants"!】

【Threat level: Medium.】

【Characteristics: Extremely sensitive to energy fluctuations. Lives by gnawing and decomposing metal. Its mouthparts can secrete high-strength corrosive acid, capable of causing irreversible damage to most alloy armor.】

"Damn it! This thing is 'scavenger ants'?!"

Lin Yuan felt his scalp go numb, and a chill shot straight from his tailbone to his crown!

He saw with his own eyes that wherever that gray-black "ant tide" passed, a hundred-meter-tall giant mecha wreck, its alloy leg comparable to a warship's main armor, was gnawed clean in just a few seconds, turning into countless finer metal powders, leaving not even a scrap behind!

How are these "scavenger ants"?

These are clearly a group of walking, self-aware "super decomposers"!

"Lin Yuan! Quick! Get out of there!"

In the Command Center, Academician Wang's voice already carried a shrill, distorted tone due to extreme shock and fear.

He did not doubt for a moment that even if the "ghost's" "Adaptive Lattice Armor" was sturdy, once it was submerged by this endless "ant tide", the outcome would definitely not be any better!

"Want to leave? Too late!"

A bitter smile appeared on the corner of Lin Yuan's mouth.

He discovered that the "ant tide" had already formed a huge encirclement from all directions, completely sealing him in place!

Furthermore, it never rains but it pours!

Just at this moment, the sky also changed.

In the sky that was originally considered "calm", the violent magnetic field, seemingly triggered by the collective action of this "ant tide", began to become even more violent and chaotic!

Countless terrifying electric arcs, ten times thicker than before and resembling ferocious giant dragons, danced and intertwined crazily in the gray sky, emitting deafening roars!

A magnetic field storm... capable of tearing apart a synchronous orbit space station, was forming rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Wolves in front, tigers behind!

Lin Yuan felt his scalp was about to explode.

A desperate situation formed instantly.

Charging forward, he would be gnawed into a skeleton by the "ant tide".

Flying upward, he would be torn into shreds by the magnetic field storm!

"Calm down! Lin Yuan! Calm down!"

He forced himself to turn off the external sound pickup, not looking at or thinking about those terrifying scenes, and his brain, stimulated by adrenaline, began to operate at an overclocked speed.

There must be a way!

There must be!

His gaze, like the most precise radar, swept rapidly across the surrounding environment, searching for that one-in-ten-thousand chance of survival.

Suddenly, his gaze fixed on a spot not far away.

On a huge, incomparable warship wreck lying on the ground like a mountain range.

That warship had been severed at the waist by some unimaginable weapon.

A huge, pitch-black opening with a diameter of over one hundred meters, like the mouth of a giant beast waiting to devour people, was facing him.

A crazy plan, born from a desperate situation, instantly formed in his mind!

"Got it!"

He gritted his teeth and piloted the "ghost", making a move that left everyone in the Command Center in disbelief!

He did not run away.

He did not retreat.

Instead, he instantly reconfigured that "nanocluster plasticity tool arm" into that plasma light sword burning with blazing white flames!

Then, he fiercely slashed down with the sword at the indestructible metal ground beneath his feet!

"Open for me!"

"Sizzle—!"

The blazing white plasma light sword, carrying an unparalleled high temperature capable of instantly vaporizing a tank, carved a molten trench on the hard metal ground that was one hundred meters long and ten meters deep!

When the surging "ant tide" rushed to this high-temperature trench, the "scavenger ants" in the front row were instantly melted into boiling molten iron by the terrifying high temperature!

The "ants" behind seemed to fear this extreme high temperature as well, and their offensive stalled for a moment!

And taking advantage of this short, few-second respite bought with his life!

Lin Yuan piloted the "ghost", instantly pushing the engine power to an overload of 120%!

The entire ship transformed into an uncatchable black lightning bolt, resolutely charging fiercely into the pitch-black opening of that huge warship wreck!

He had to, before the magnetic field storm fully formed!

Before the "ant tide" crossed that cooling lava trench!

Find himself a temporary... shelter!